264 ORDERS OF BIRDS. 



of flight, is tlie Solitaire (Pczoplicqjs) of Eoclrigiiez, a small 

 island lying about three hundred miles to the east of 

 Mauritius. Its last recorded appearance was in the year 

 1693. The Solitaire had longer legs and a longer neck 

 than the Dodo ; its bill was less strongly arched ; its fore- 

 head was flatter; and there was developed upon the radial side 

 of the metacarpal an extraordinary spherical callus-like mass 



Fig. 5S9. — Skeleton of the Dodo (Didus ineptus), restored. (After Owen.) 



of bone, about as large as a musket-ball, and with a roughened 

 surface. This singidar callosity is much more developed in 

 certain indi^dduals — supposed to be males — than in others, 

 which we may presume to be females ; it was doubtless 

 covered during life by a horny integument ; and it seems to 

 have been used as an offensive weapon. 



Order IV. Scaxsores. — The order of the Scansorial or 

 Climbing Bii'ds is easily and very shortly defined, having no 



